The proceedings have been settled for mass arrests of 64 party participants on suspicion of marijuana.
News promotion: Defendants — Cartersville Police Station, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office and Bartow-Cartersville Drug Countermeasures Headquarters — will pay $ 900,000 as part of the settlement, the Southern Human Rights Center said. In a news release..
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Important reason: Gerald Griggs, a lawyer and former vice president of the NAACP, said it is impossible for all 64 people to own the same amount of marijuana. Organized Campaign to reduce prices.
Catch up quickly: Cartersville executives Dispatch After receiving the gunshot report, I went home on New Year’s Eve 2017. Officers said they smelled marijuana and entered the house without consent or a warrant, the Southern Center says.
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Dozens of people between the ages of 15 and 30, mostly blacks and people of other colors, attended birthday parties at home.
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Police found less than an ounce of marijuana at home and arrested party participants.
Initially, the Narcotics Countermeasures Headquarters Said They found evidence of widespread drug use and were charged with possessing marijuana for less than an ounce of misdemeanor because 64 people were “out of reach or under control”. ..
A representative of the city of Cartersville did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.Almost two weeks after the arrest, a lawyer in the Bartow County district drop Evidence accused 64 defendants of being “insufficient to convict.”
What they are saying: Ebony Brown, a lawyer at the Southern Center for Human Rights, said officers immediately treated everyone in the party like a suspect.
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“The crackdown on sin by this kind of association is ripe for the abuse seen here, and the real consequences for people like plaintiffs are devastating,” she said.
Despite the settlement, the Southern Center says the city of Cartersville has not amended its policy of allowing police to enter the house when they smell what they think is marijuana.
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John Merchant, a merchant law firm, said in a news release that police had enough time to investigate the situation before attacking the house and arresting the client “just because he attended the party.”
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“We are pleased to have resolved this case and hope that these agencies will make the necessary changes to prevent this from happening again,” he said.
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